Page 59 of Betrayal of a Billionaire

“This is stupid,” Kyle said with a shake of his head. His thoughts mirrored Grant’s concern but with a youthful impatience. “We should go with them.”

“I hate to say this, but…Crazy Kyle has a point,” Sierra said with her arms crossed.

Grant’s mind raced with conflicting thoughts. Was he being too passive letting her slip away? His heart ached as he considered losing her. Or was he merely giving her space to show her the trust he had in her? The fear of making the wrong choice gnawed at him.

Grant forced himself into the best version of a father he could. “It’s not stupid. That’s her sister, and I think we should let them spend some time together.”

“With Luke,” Kyle said. “She’s going with Luke.”

“If we don’t let her go with them, we risk her resenting us for it.”

“I’d rather she resent us than spend the rest of her life with him.” Kyle shook his head as the others disappeared from their view.

“We should go with them,” Sierra said as she took a step toward them.

Grant grabbed her. “No, Sierra.”

“Daddy!” She stamped her foot on the ground, but he recognized the tantrum as far more than being spoiled and more closely aligned with her growing attachment to Julia.

“Sierra, honey, let’s go home. She’ll come back.”

Sierra crinkled her brow, shooting a pleading glance at Kyle. He slid his arm around her shoulders. “Come on, Sierra, maybe we can come up with a plan at home.”

“A plan? We just should go with her. That’s the plan.”

“Don’t start, Kyle,” Grant said as they walked toward the restaurant’s parking lot.

“Don’t start with what?” Sierra asked. “What plan?”

“Don’t,” Grant said, a tone of authority in his voice as the driver opened the car’s door.

“This isn’t fair. First, my step-mommy is off with some other guy on our family vacation and now no one will tell me the plan.”

“There isn’t a plan, Sierra. The plan is to let Julia have some time with her family while we’re here.”

“But Daddy–”

“Sierra, stop. We’ll only make things worse if we chase her. Alicia hates us. We don’t need to give her an excuse to hate us more.”

“But Julia doesn’t…yet.”

“And we’re not going to give her any reason to believe Alicia, right? So no chasing Julia to her dinner.”

“Who’s chasing her? She asked us to go,” Kyle argued.

“Julia is too nice for her own good. If we would have taken her up on that, Alicia would have painted it as wrong on our part. Now, let’s just head home for a quiet dinner and plan to spend some time with her tomorrow.” Grant flicked his gaze out the window, a sinking feeling filling him. What if the dinner changed everything? The possibility loomed over him like a dark cloud. Was he making a huge mistake?

His mind sifted through every tender memory of her, seeking out genuine affection. It settled on their wedding photo. They looked so happy, but was their happiness real or just a fleeting moment?

The car slid to a stop outside of the rented house. They shuffled inside, silence still stretching. The house seemed far too quiet without Julia here.

“Mr. Harrington, back so soon?” Worthington asked.

“Yes. I think we’ll order in tonight,” he said.

“And Mrs. Harrington?” Worthington asked. “Are we waiting for her to return?”

“No, ah, Julia’s having dinner with her sister,” Grant answered.